Chocolate Cherry Bars

A box of cake mix and a can of cherry pie filling come together to make a rich and delicious Chocolate Cherry Bars dessert recipe!

Chocolate Cherry Bars Recipe 

A combination of cake and cherries with a rich chocolate icing makes a chocolate cherry dessert that’s bursting with flavor. Get a nice bite of chocolate cake with a couple cherries and there’s a lot of deliciousness to enjoy. 

My husband says the key to enjoying these dessert bars is to get a big bite of cake just to guarantee you’ll have some cherries. Let’s be honest, this is how he enjoys most desserts from our Chocolate Cake made with Mayo to our Cowboy Cookies, big bites are his style. 

Sweet cherry pie filling with extra cherries nicely compliments the dark chocolate in the devil’s food cake mix just like in our Black Forest Cherry Bundt Cake and No-Bake Black Forest Pie.

Jelly Roll Pan Versus a 9×13″ Pan

Just like our Texas Brownies this recipe calls for a jelly roll pan and a thin layer of homemade icing that you boil and pour over the top. 

This recipe can easily be made in a 9 x 13″ pan to get thicker pieces with a thicker layer of icing. Using a bigger pan makes thinner pieces and gives the appearance of more dessert to share.

The picture below was made in a jelly roll pan and the picture above was prepared in a 9 x 13″ pan.

Part dessert bars and part cake these Chocolate Cherry Bars have a lighter cake texture than a typical sheet cake. 

Chocolate Cherry Dessert

Beautiful desserts like Cherry Delight or Mini Cherry Cheesecakes catch people’s eye on the dessert table. But chocolate desserts like Chocolate Delight and Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies seem to be more popular. So combining the best of both worlds to make this yummy Chocolate Cherry Dessert is a real winner!

This double chocolate recipe is similar to a brownie, but isn’t quite as rich. Nuts can be be added for more of a crunch. Half a bag of chocolate chips is melted to make the frosting. The other half of the bag of chocolate chips can be stirred into the batter along with the cherry pie filling to make chocolate chip cherry bars.

How to Make Chocolate Cherry Bars 

In a mixing bowl stir together cake mix, eggs, vanilla and cherry pie filling.  Pour batter in a greased jelly roll pan.

Bake at 350°F for 20 – 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow cake to cool for a little while before making frosting. 

To make the frosting, partially melt butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in milk, chocolate chips and sugar.  

Stir often over medium heat until mixture begins to boil then stir continuously for one minute while the icing boils.  Pour over cake immediately to allow icing to set up. 

Tips & Tricks

• If a jelly roll pan isn’t available a 9×13 pan can be used, but baking time will increase because the cake mixture will be thicker. The icing should be thicker as well.
• A can of purchased chocolate icing may be used
• Use a serrated knife to cut the knife into bars
• We prefer the can of cherry pie filling with extra cherries
• 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped nuts can be added to the batter
• 6 ounces or the other half of bag of chocolate chips can be mixed in the batter if desired

More Delicious Chocolate Dessert Recipes:

• Devil’s Food Cookies are a super easy way to get a chocolate fix!
• Milk Chocolate Covered Almonds stir salted almonds into chocolate melting in the crock pot to make super easy homemade candy.

Recipe originally shared on April 15, 2021 with updates made on June 16, 2025.